St John's Ambulance

St John Ambulance

St John Ambulance logo
Countries with national organisations affiliated to SJA
Abbreviation	SJA
Motto	"'In the Service of Humanity" (Pro utilitate hominem)
Formation	1877
Type	Registered Charities
Purpose	Education and public service
Region served	International
Membership	42 national organisations
Parent organisation	Order of Saint John (chartered 1888)
Volunteers	500,000
Website	http://www.orderofstjohn.org

St John Ambulance is a trade name used by a number of affiliated organisations in different countries, counties, states or provinces dedicated to the teaching and practice of medical first aid and the provision of ambulance and community volunteer services, all of which derive their origins from the St John Ambulance Association founded in 1877 in the United Kingdom. The active uniformed first-aiders known as the St John Ambulance Brigade or Community Services were introduced in 1887. There are now more than 500,000 such volunteers worldwide. The brand name and logo are owned by the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem with the international office located in London, England. Logos may vary in each country but always contain the eight-pointed Maltese Cross as the essential identifier.

The membership aspect of St John Ambulance is largely ranked, and members fall into a hierarchical structure of reporting. Ranks run from corporals, through sergeants and officers all the way up to high national ranks, but there is significant variation between Priories and it is hard to generalise the structure too much from an international perspective.

Most members of St John Ambulance are not themselves members of the Order, and vice versa, so a major presence of the Order does not dictate a major presence of St John Ambulance. Most notably, the Order of St John and St John Ambulance are non-denominational, so as to serve all. St John Ambulance works on a more geographical nature than the Order, and has to contend with the differing national laws, medical practices and cultures of countries.

The legal status of each organisation varies by country, province, state, county, territory and municipality. In both England and Wales the resident St John Ambulance organisations are simultaneously but separately registered as charities and companies, whereas St John Ambulance South Africa (for example) is a distinct entity registered as a "public benefit organisation".

The presence of St John Ambulance is different among countries:

In the aftermath of World War II, British soldiers established Saint John brigades in Germany. In cooperation with the Johanniter Orden (the Protestant German Order of Saint John), the Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe was founded in 1952. In recent years, more national Saint John societies, not directly linked to the British St. John Ambulance, have been founded in Europe, notably in Austria and Poland